The present invention relates to a semiconductor device. More particularly, it relates to an improved radiator for cooling a semiconductor chip which generates a large amount of heat.
A radiator is attached to a semiconductor integrated-circuit (IC) package which houses an IC chip which generates a large amount of heat. Such a radiator comprises a pillar and a plurality of fins disposed on the pillar. The pillar is secured to a molded plastic body or a ceramic body which houses the IC chip. The size of the fins corresponds to the size of the IC package and is not uniform. A number of semiconductor devices, each of which comprises an IC package and a radiator, are densely mounted on a printed circuit board. It is inconvenient to handle such small-sized semiconductor devices, and it is also difficult to place the ICS in a predetermined position when mounting them on a printed board. In addition, it is troublesome to remove the semiconductor devices from the printed board if it is necessary to replace them. Furthermore, it is difficult to distinguish one kind of semiconductor device from another when a number of different kinds of semiconductor devices are to be mounted on the printed board since semiconductor devices are all virtually the same size. To facilitate handling of the semiconductor devices which are densely mounted on the printed board, a projection is to be formed on the uppermost fin of the radiator for picking up the semiconductor device. The uppermost fin is removed to make it possible to access to the pillar for picking up the semiconductor device. It is not desirable, however, to form such a projection since the height of the semiconductor device is increased thereby hindering the semiconductor device from being mounted on a printed board which has small space above the upper surface thereof. Removing the uppermost fin is also undesirable since the efficiency of radiation of heat is degraded.